maybe, but not too likely. It should work better with UP milk. More likely, temp control or culture choice. Also, you may want to use more rennet. My guess is temp control. It needs to be 76-78 at all times.

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How did you ensure even temp? Meaning, for chevre, you started at 76-80F, and then after 12 hours it was still 76F? If so, that's a good temp range. Higher and the growth favors lactococci, which tend to have a thinner set. Lower, and it's not favorable for growth. Below 68, rennet won't work at all. If the temp was steady, then you did not use enough rennet. With enough rennet, it would have set up.

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EVERYTHING I have read indicates that UP milk is often hard to get to work in terms of curd formation

Likely, those authors did not differentiate between gel types. This is true for full rennet-induced gels. For lactic gels and semi-lactics, the whey protein denaturation that happens in UP milk leads to adsorption on the casein. When the acidity increases, it creates a stronger casein-casein bond. There is a reversion point, of course. If you boil the milk for a long time, that's too much. Most UP milk is not like that, though, the denaturation is usually at 30-40%.

« Last Edit: October 19, 2012, 01:46:40 PM by linuxboy »

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